Truck for moving or handling hide-stretching machines.



No. 803,359. PATENTED OCT. 31, 1905.

' E. L. POST.

TRUCK FOR MOVING OR HANDLING HIDE STRETCHING MACHINES. APPLICATION FILED313.23. 1905.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

O o 0 C 0 o 0 If E] El E1 y y L 04- INVEII 70R WITNESS s izra LPasr lTTOHNEVS PATENTBD OCT. 31, 1905.

E. L. POST. TRUCK FOR MOVING 0R HANDLING HIDE STRETGHING MACHINES.

APPLICATION rILnn. rams. 1995.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

IN YEN 10 51/ 2, 7%:

WITNESS s 5' fflt By Qg ITTURNEYS UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

Q EZRA L. POST, OF WALLINGFORD, CONNECTICUT.

TRUCK FOR MOVING OR HANDLING HlDE-STRETCHING MACHINES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 31, 1905.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, EZRA L. PosT, acitizen of the United States,residing at VVallingford, in the county of New Haven and State ofConnecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Trucksfor Moving, Manipulating, or Handling Leather or Hide StretchingMachines, of which the following is a specification, such as. willenable those skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and usethe same.

This invention relates to trucks for use in moving, handling, ormanipulating leather or hide stretching apparatus; and the objectthereof is to provide an improved truck of this class by means of whichmachines or apparatus of the class specified may be easily andconveniently handled or manipulated when a hide or sheet of leather isconnected therewith and moves from one point to another, a furtherobject being to provide a truck of the class specified which willaccomplish a great saving of time and labor in the manipulation ofleather-stretching apparatus or devices in the process of drying theleather after it has been stretched; and with these and otherobjects inview the invention consists in a truck of the class specifiedconstructed as hereinafter described and claimed.

In the drawings forming part of this specification I have illustratedthe use of my improved truck in connection with a leatherstretchingmachine, apparatus, or device such as is shown, described, and claimedin United States Letters Patent N o. 7 7 2,054, granted to me October11, 1904:; but it will be apparent from the following description thatmachines or apparatus of the class described and of other forms may bemanipulated, handled, or moved by means of my improved truck.

The invention is fully disclosed in the following specification, ofwhich the accompanying drawings form a part, in which the separate partsof my improvement are designated by suitable reference characters ineach of the views, and in which-- Figure 1 is a rear end view of myimproved truck and showing a leather or hide stretching apparatus ordevice constructed according to the United States patent hereinbeforereferred to mounted thereon and also showing an overhead support andmeans suspending the leather-stretching apparatus or device therefrom,and Fig. 2 a sectional side wiew of the truck and showing theleather-stretching apparatus or device in two different positions indotted lines.

In Fig. l of the drawings I have shown at a an overhead track orrail-upon which travelers of the usual or any desired construction areadapted to move, said travelers in the said figure consisting of wheels6 and depending yoke members 6 pivoted thereto, and the yoke members 6are rotatably mounted in a cross-head 0 of the hide-stretching apparatuspreviously described, said apparatus comprising a frame composed ofcross-heads 0 and 0 to each of which is pivoted a bar 0 and thecross-heads 0 and 0 are adjustably mounted on longitudinally-arrangedrods 0*, in each of which is secured a pin 0 preferably arranged at apoint slightly beneath the center of said frame, thereby providing agreater weight above the pin 0 than below the same, and pivotallyconnected with the pivoted bars 0 are a plurality of bars orclutch-holders 0, by which the hide 0 being stretched is engaged, thestretching of said hide being accomplished by means of the adjustment ofthe cross-heads c and 0 on the longitudinallyarranged rods 0.

In both figures of the drawings I have shown my truck ina position foruse and closely adjacent to one of the hide-stretching apparatussupported from the overhead track a, and the truck consists of two basemembers (Z, formed into an angle, as shown in Fig. l, and to which aresecured upright yoke-shaped frame members (Z and (Z the yoke-shapedmember (Z 2 being at the rear of the truck and the yoke-shaped member (Zat the front of said truck, and the arms of the yoke-shaped member (Zare connected at their upper ends by means of a transverserod (ZSlidably mounted upon the inner sides of each of the vertical arms ofthe yoke member (Z is a bar 6, provided with a slot 0 through whichpasses a pin 6 secured to the corresponding arm of the yoke member (Zand pivotally connected with the bar a, and at the bottom thereof, asshown at 6*, is a yoke shaped frame f, which extends some distance tothe rear of the yoke member (Z and the yoke-shaped frame f consists ofside arms f and a transverse member f and each of the side arms f isprovided with an angular recess f, which closely fits upon an angularrod f, adapted to rotate in a segmental recess f of the base members (Z,and the said angular rod 7 is held on the base members (Z by IIO meansof straps f secured to the corresponding base members (Z and passingover the angular rod f, the object of this construction being for thepurpose of insuring a corre sponding movement of each of the arms f whenpressure is exerted on the transverse member f of the yoke-shaped framef, for if said pressure he imparted to the transverse member f adjacentto one of the side members f the angular rod f being engaged by the saidarms f will move both arms to a corresponding degree, and thereby moveboth of the slide-bars c in the same degree, and each of the slide-barse is provided at its top with a segmental recess a, and secured to theunder sides of the base members (Z are wheels or rollers g by means ofwhich the truck may be moved in any direction.

In Fig. 2 of the drawings I have indicated in dotted lines thehide-stretching apparatus which is shown in full lines in Fig. 1, andwhen the said apparatus is supported as shown the pins 0" are slightlyabove the slide-bars e of the truck, said position of said pins beingindicated at w in Fig. 2, and if at this time the transverse member f ofthe yoke-shaped frame f be depressed into the position shown in dottedlines at g the slide-bars e are elevated to the position indicated indotted lines at 9 this movement of the slide-bars c serving to engagethe pins 0 of the hide-stretching apparatus and to raise the wheels 6from the overhead track a, and when so disengaged the upper portion ofthe hide-stretching apparatus may be drawn downwardly and backwardlyuntil it rests upon the transverse rod cl of the truck, at which timethe pressure may be removed from the yoke-shaped frame f, therebyreturning the same to its normal position and permitting the slide-barse and the hide-stretching apparatus to drop to their lowest positions,and, as hereinbefore stated, the pins 0 being slightly beneath thecenter of the hide-stretching apparatus, the excessive weight is betweenthe fulcrum of the pin 0" and the transverse rod d, and thehidestretching apparatus is therefore supported by the truck and readyfor removal to any desired point.

It will be observed that the forward wheels 9 of the truck are setslightly forward'of the yoke-shaped members (Z of the truck, the objectof this construction being to removethe line of gravity to a pointbetween the forward and rearward wheels g, and thereby prevent thetilting or upsetting of the truck, as the hide-stretching apparatuswhencomplete, as shown in Fig. 1, will weigh from three hundred to fourhundred pounds, and this position of the wheels g is therefore renderednecessary.

When it is desired to replace the hidestretching apparatus on a track ain another portion of the building in which said tracks are arranged,the truck is moved to a position where the slide-bars 0 are directlybeneath the said track, at which time that portion of thehide-stretching apparatus resting upon the transverse bar (5* is raiseduntil the said apparatus is in a vertical position, or nearly so, and atthis time the yoke-shaped frame f is depressed, thereby raising thehidestretching apparatus to a position where the rollers b thereon maybe placed upon the track a, and when the yoke-shaped frame f resumes itsnormal position the truck may be removed, as it is at this timedisengaged from the hidestretching apparatus.

Although I have shown my truck constructed and used in connection withhide-stretching apparatus adapted to be suspended from an overheadtrack, it will be apparent that the limit of movement of the slide-barsmay be varied to permit of lowering one of said hide- -stretchingapparatus to the floor upon which my truck moves and to be disengagedtherefrom when in this position, and my truck may be modified in variousways to accommodate the same to varying-conditions, the principal objectthereof being to provide means whereby a hide-stretching apparatus of asize and weight herein described may be readily manipulated by one man.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that the truck membercomprises-a frame composed of a base d, upright front member or members(Z and an upright rear member or members 61 and the movable parts whichrender the truck operative for the purpose specified are connected withsaid frame, and

my invention is not limited to "the exact construction, combination, andarrangement of parts herein shown and described, and various changestherein and modifications'thereof may be made without departing from thespirit of my invention or sacrificing its advantages.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

1. A truck for the purpose specified, comprising a main frame havinguprightend members, vertically mov'able devices at one'end thereof, saiddevices being adapted to engage a leather-stretching appara'tuswhen thelatter is in an upright position, and means for raising and loweringsaid devices whereby said frame may be tilted onto and supported bytheend members of'the main frame.

2. A truck formanipulating leather-stretching apparatus, saidtruck beingprovided with upright end members, vertically-movable devices connectedwith the vertical members at one end of the truck for engaging theleatherstretching apparatus, and means for operating said devices so asto raise said leatherstretching apparatus and tilt it onto said'endmembers, substantially as shown and described.

3. A truck for the purpose specified, comprising a mainframe,vertically-movable de= tially as shown and described.

4. A truck for handling leather-stretching frames, said truck comprisinga main frame having upright front end and rear end portions,verticallymovable devices connected with the upright front end portionof the frame and adapted to engage a leather-stretching apparatus, andmeans for raising and lowering said devices, consisting of a yokeshapedmember pivotally supported in the frame and the side arms of which arepivoted to the lower ends of said devices, said yokeshaped member beingadapted to be operated from the rear end of the truck-frame,substantially as shown and described.

5. A truck designed for use in handling leather-stretching apparatus,said truck comprising a main frame having upright front and rear endportions,vertically-movable bars connected with the front end portionand the upper ends of which are extended forwardly and provided with arecess in the top thereof, and means for raising and lowering said bars,comprising a yoke-shaped member pivotally supported in the frame and thesides of which are pivotally connected with the lower ends of said bars,said yoke-shaped member being adapted I to be operated from the rear endof the truck,

substantially as shown and described.

In ,testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention I have signedmy name, in presence of the subscribing witnesses, this 4th day ofFebruary, 1905.

EZRA L. POST. Witnesses:

F. A. STEWART, C. E. MULREANY.

